Over 230 killed under rubble after ‘US-led raid’ in Mosul

Posted on March 24, 2017

Hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed under collapsed buildings in the Iraqi city of Mosul after a reported US-led airstrike triggered a massive explosion in a residential neighborhood last week.

According to Press TV, Iraqi civil defense agency officials and locals said Thursday that rescuers are still recovering bodies from under the debris near Rahma hospital in Mosul’s Jadida district following the explosion that took place on March 16.

Iraqi sources have put the number of those killed at over 230. So far 130 dead bodies have reportedly been retrieved from the debris.

The exact cause of the blast remains unclear, but local residents said an explosive-laden truck detonated following a US-led airstrike, destroying buildings in the heavily-populated neighborhood.

Local lawmaker Faris al-Sanjari said the US-led coalition targeted the truck bomb and noted, “You cannot kill dozens just to destroy a booby-trapped truck parked near houses.”

A police civil defense official also said “a coalition air strike hit a residential street last Friday and destroyed at least 30 houses.”